My head and my heart are heavy at the moment. I am feeling overwhelmed that I finally have some physical evidence of my son’s Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD. I have a QEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalogram) that shows the unique way his brain is wired. I have blood tests that show his Omega 6 and Omega 3 levels, and the corresponding ratios. I have a genetic test that shows my son has a gene mutation that 98% of kids with autism have. I have hope. Hope that with all of this information, I can now move forward with finding a cure.

Bailey is eight years old. He loves trains, construction, Lego and cute babies. His heart is beautiful, his nature is generous, and his behaviour is out of control. This week he hit one of his teachers, bit his brother and had a record number of emotional and physical outbursts. My son needs help to control his behaviour, and the answer doesn’t lie in just increasing his medications. I want to find the cause behind his difficulties, help him gain control and think clearly.

At present, his brain is not functioning as it should. Regardless of how big his heart is or how much he wants to do the right thing, because of his Aspergers and ADHD it’s not physically possible. I am about to start the process of re-wiring my son’s brain so it can function clearly. After asking thousands of questions and completing many hours of research I feel like an apprentice neuro psychology electrician, and I’m ready with my soldering iron!

This is a QEEG of my son’s brain. It shows which parts of his brain are working normally – the grey areas – and which parts are functioning slowly – the green, yellow, orange and red parts.

ADHD. The large red area over the motor cortex part of Bailey’s brain is the evidence of ADHD. The motor cortex is involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movement and for Bailey and it is working very slowly. This is the reason why Bailey cannot control himself physically. When I saw this picture, I felt my heart break. There it was, the cause for his ADHD. And it was BIG and RED. Pretty hard to miss really!

ASPERGERS. The orange, yellow and green areas on the left and right side of his brain, around his ears, are evidence of Aspergers Syndrome. It shows difficulty in the areas that control receptive and expressive language. I was delighted to see that these areas were quite isolated from the rest of his brain function. The doctor said that Bailey has quite a “clean” brain, as noted by the large amount of grey areas. I was relieved that it wasn’t as “colourful” as I had expected! “Aspergers Syndrome” is mostly a social and communication disorder, in order to prove a diagnosis of “Autism” the QEEG would have needed to show difficulties in other parts of his brain as well.

So what to do with this new information?ADHD SYMPTOMSNeurotherapy. During Neurotherapy, a real-time QEEG is displayed on a computer in the form of a game, and the child is given audio-visual rewards for producing less Theta and more Beta waves. The Neurotherapy retrains the brain to use the areas that are functioning slowly. After training, the brain normalizes, the ADHD symptoms reduce and the effect is life long. No more Ritalin!ASPERGERS SYMPTOMSThere are computer-based programs available, such as Fast ForWord, which help build receptive and expressive language skills. Fast ForWord uses seven games that are designed to train the brain to process sounds more efficiently and rapidly. As the child successfully performs the tasks within the games, the speech sounds are gradually shortened until the child can process these sounds in real time. The results are not only an improvement in language issues but it also helps children be more connected socially.We will be starting both Neurotherapy and the Fast ForWord programs as soon as possible. I will also be repeating the QEEG after 6 months to see the physical differences these programs make. I am hopeful and optimistic that we’re going to see huge changes in Bailey’s social skills, communication and behaviour. To achieve a true breakthrough for Bailey, he will also need to be supported with good nutrition and dietary supplements. We’ve now become a gluten free house, we’re making our own gluten free pizza’s for dinner, and are about to become dairy free as well. Omega 6 oils are being replaced with Omega 3 oils whilst boosting Iron and Vitamin B levels. Knowing that Bailey has genetic gene mutation MTHFR-677T (one copy) also means that we can increase his glutathione, which will help him detoxify his body of all of the nasty toxins he has accumulated.You can probably understand now why my mind is so heavy. It’s full of new research and information that I know will help my son. Why is my heart so heavy? I feel terribly guilty that I didn’t know this information until now. Every time my son does the wrong thing I always blame myself. Not enough rules, not enough boundaries, not enough discipline. Why aren’t other children in his class like this? What have I done wrong? My heart is still heavy but the emotional hangover of guilt is slowly healing. Thanks to his QEEG, I can visually see why my son is different. No amount of gold star traditional parenting could have fixed what was going on in his mind. I’m taking steps, I’m moving forward. I’m educating myself as to how I can help my son in other ways like Neurotherapy and nutrition. I’m writing my own book on how to be a gold star special needs parent. It’s not just about trying to change behaviours; it’s also about finding the cause behind the behaviours. If I can find the cause, I won’t have to medicate the symptoms. One piece at a time I am building my knight in shining armour, representing hope, for a cure.

Robyn, I'd gladly give you a gold star for the amount of effort and energy you put into finding out about the various conditions you have become aware of via your boys' lived experiences but put aside the guilt please. I believe you would need to have consciously done something to harm your children before you would need to feel guilty and I don't believe that for a second.

As a teacher and the mother of three daughters, one of whom was diagnosed with Asperger's and an anxiety disorder whilst in primary school, I can confidently tell you that you're doing a great job. Our children don't need fixing any more than other children but they do need us to help them and support them while they find their way in the world, as do all children. It just seems like sometimes our work load is a bit heavier than others.

Our aspie daughter is now 22, finished a Certificate in Digital Photographic Imaging at Southbank Institute of TAFE then a Bachelor of Fine Arts at QUT, recently moved from Brisbane to Melbourne with her aspie boyfriend (he's doing a Masters in Literature at Melbourne Uni), organises her life with the help of spreadsheets, and makes fabulous vegan/gluten-free birthday cakes for her friends. She is amazing, as are her sisters, although they find her a bit prickly sometimes, but we've all found ways to work within her peculiar set of requirements - not too many cuddles or "I love yous", no two foods touching on her plate, mono-syllabic responses most of the time then lengthy phone calls when it suits her. Try and roll with the punches as much as exploring therapies and I'm sure you'll all survive. If you need a birthday cake for the boys email me and I'll give you her phone number!

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Carolyn`

10/5/2014 02:03:37 pm

would love to know more info about how to access this treatment please

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Danielle

10/5/2014 03:56:43 pm

I am very new to this. My sons school has informed me to have reasons to think he has ADD and ASD. I cant help but disagree. Where would I start to seek further neuro advise for my 6yr old son ? General GP? Im new on the gold coast and having hard enough time finging a giod GP for my family as is. Advise?

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Nadine

10/5/2014 04:55:53 pm

Danielle, I work with families searching for a diagnosis of autism/ADHD every day and also have a child with that same diagnosis and a son with sensory dysfunction. I would start by getting a mental health care plan with your gp. This will subsidise 6 visits with a psychologist or occupational therapist (ot). The OT will assess sensory issues and the psychologist can perform specific assessments on ADHD and ASD. You would also need a paediatrician referral from your gp to oversee the diagnosis. There are very long wait lists so get in early.

Robyn have you looked into Bowen Therapy to help your sons therapy? There have been some great results with autism and ADHD kids. I work on a couple of autistic kids at the moment and they get great results

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Belinda

24/5/2014 08:21:01 pm

Hi, my son has had Neurotherapy it does help. My son is 8. We do a different version of Neurotherapy that the one mentioned. The treatment is 5 days in a row. Then 3 weeks off. My son would just sit for the treatment. There was no computer game involved. Julie I am in Adelaide. We go to the Dyslexia Reading Solutions Centre in Mawson Laks. They also have a practise in Darwin. My son has calms down and is able to communicate more especially after school. He used to just not speak or be agitated after school. I will never forget the day that I picked him up and asked how his day was. Initially he said. It was good. Then he said no it was bad. That's it. No anxiety, anger. Just, I had a bad day.

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Melissa

19/8/2014 07:30:57 am

Hi Robyn
What wonderful work you have done. My son is 8 also and diagnosed ASD & ADHD. with the usual issues of anxiety and sensory issues.
We have recently placed him on ritalin to help with coping with doingvschool work. He seems worse on this ritalin. Very sgresdive coming off it. Still not coping with school work. I have run out of answers now. I hate watching him suffer and I hate all this medication which is supposed to make things better! We have done so much early intervention. Doesnt seem to always help. Has anyone heard of "the Listening Program"? Its apparently classical music through headphones each dsy to change the way the brain works. I want to try it but not sure if what u suggest is better? We are in Melbourne. Is it expensive? And where woild we go for treatment and the brain scan?
Regards, Mel. X

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Todd Yelavich

19/8/2014 09:12:37 pm

Hi Robyn sounds like you have been digging deep for answers, I wish you good luck and look forward to seeing the results to your retest after you try the treatment. My son is now 20 www.wildboy.co.nz when he was younger we tried everything we could find to help him cope better with everyday life including a program here in NZ which sounds very similar, our boy has ADHD and while not diagnosed, for some time during his life ODD I believe, it's all so complex to know what is causing what and why. The Brain training we tried in my view was not successful, hopefully they have improved the therapy now and you have success. All the best

Hi I am a nurse working on the gold Coast with a w holistic GP we work with many of these kids with diet and supplementing we work with specialists and allow our parents to try anything they feel will help. My son is 11 and we have just gotten ADD INATTENTIVE and ADD I am seeing lots of success with behaviour and agression it's been a long journey for us but I believe we have a way to go but I know my Boss and the biomedical science she practices is real

Robyn, where do you get a QEEG done in perth WA. I would really like to get thus done for my son. Thank you. Linda

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Pamela

28/12/2015 05:48:53 am

Suggest you Google NeurOptimal by Zengar Institute Inc.. I recently paid over $15,000 AU to have the brain machine in my home. A lot of money but it's for a lifetime.
For more info on this then email Melissa and Steve Phillis who do neurofeedback sessions with NeurOptimal.

neurowisebendigo@gmail.com

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Planet Autism

29/12/2015 03:17:42 am

I'm puzzled by this comment:

"“Aspergers Syndrome” is mostly a social and communication disorder, in order to prove a diagnosis of “Autism” the QEEG would have needed to show difficulties in other parts of his brain as well."

Asperger's is an autism spectrum condition. The only real difference between AS and HFA is that in HFA there was a language delay or regression.

I assume this comment was made by the technician/doctor who interpreted your son's results, and that you are just repeating it. I'd be interested to know what differences are supposed to be additional in autism and Asperger's.

To have AS you have to have an IQ of at least 70 (so no learning disability) whereas with typical autism the IQ can be lower than that, hence a learning disability and hence people with what is considered "severe" autism can be non-verbal too.